This blog covers a little more detail about what Shirley Gracias (psychiatrist) and I plan to cover during the ‘More than Meds’ course on Saturday February 9th 2019.

We’re very excited about this course and understand it to be the first course in the UK offering whole person support for people with mental health issues co-run by a nutritional therapist and psychiatrist.

Although only a taster for a weekend course we plan to offer in the next few months, we aim to equip you with plenty of information and resources to help bring you back to balance.

As you’ll be aware, mental health spans a whole spectrum of different disorders – this initial course is aimed at people with low mood, depression and anxiety issues.

The day course will cover:

  • Underlying causes of low mood, anxiety
  • A whole person approach to mental health
  • Nutrition and supplements
  • Emotional aspects and ways to manage these (Acceptance and commitment therapy/worry/stress-management techniques etc.)
  • Tips for getting a good sleep/the role of exercise
  • On-going sources of support.

As most of us know all too well, low mood is a completely natural response to the hugely challenging times we’re living in. It’s now known however that some low mood and anxiety issues can be induced or exacerbated by nutrient deficiencies, poor digestive health, and imbalanced gut bacteria. I’ve had several clients who have experienced a distressing change in their mental health after being unwell (flu etc.) and one who started getting panic attacks after she had antibiotics. This new thinking (backed by some leading UK psychiatrists) is really fascinating.

When we’re stressed, our neurotransmitters (stress hormones) can easily become depleted. It’s therefore particularly important that we’re nourishing ourselves well in this time (in as stress free a way as possible of course!) so we can be sure we are getting the nutritional blocks they require for optimal functioning. This is just one of the ways good nutrition is important during stressful times.

It’s not about having a perfect diet all the time – I’m a foodie and hate unnecessary dietary restrictions as much as anyone else. But making a few key changes can make all the difference and hopefully will enable a significant shift to enhanced wellbeing.

We’ll be briefly exploring some of the other underlying causes of low mood (life stresses, inflammation, biochemical imbalance, genetics, mitochondrial dysfunction and hormones).

The course will offer time for reflection about what might be some of the priorities for each participant to address. We’re very aware that when people are struggling with low mood, they can feel un-motivated and easily overwhelmed so we will support you to look at priority areas to help the recommendations feel manageable.

Please contact Helen either by email [helen@helencookenutrition.co.uk] or phone [07905 383203] for further information – I look forward to hearing from you.